Using Water to Lighten Landscape Photos
Most Pro landscape photographers recommend shooting either at (or around) dawn or dusk in order to capture their scene in the ‘golden hours’ when the light is at it’s best (in fact some will rarely shoot at any other time of day).
However, one of the problems associated with shooting at this time of day is that while the sky will often have enough light in it the foreground of your images can sometimes end up being a little underexposed and featureless.
One way to get around underexposed foregrounds is to include water in that area of your shot and to get it reflecting light from the sky.
This is a particularly effective technique at sunrise or sunset when there’s color and interesting cloud formations in the sky (and reflections in the water).
It may take a little experimentation with different positions to shoot from in order to get the right part of the sky in the reflections but with a little trial and error the effect can be quite stunning and a much brighter and more balanced image.
Even if you don’t get perfect reflections the light coming from the water can help balance the shot and help you overcome underexposed foregrounds.
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July 12th, 2007 at 5:33 am
I like techniques like this.
People will often argue that it’s easy to use masks to darken the sky and lighten the shadows in the foreground to give a balanced exposure. Why not have one from the start?
Solutions that you can implement while shooting will always be more impressive than post-production to me. Filters are a textbook example.
July 12th, 2007 at 6:53 am
Love this blog
July 12th, 2007 at 4:31 pm
Seems that there is very long exposure on the second image - water looks like a fog :)
July 12th, 2007 at 8:54 pm
Nice tip. Hope to find some time to bring this tip into practice
July 12th, 2007 at 11:55 pm
Very interesting idea. Are there similar techniques for landscape snaps where water is not present?
July 13th, 2007 at 12:33 am
Thanks for the tips and for sharing such gorgeous images.
July 13th, 2007 at 1:16 am
I have always admire photos like this that seem to pop out off the page. I love the second photo and would love to learn more about these types of photo adjustment techniques.
The third photo almost looks like a painting. Really neat!
July 13th, 2007 at 5:14 am
a new idea to implement to get the desired photographs as above. i hope others will also try to apply the technique. congrats for the best of sky & water photos. it kept me engaged and thinking that all three photos deserve best compliments. thanks - i feel obliged.
July 13th, 2007 at 9:08 am
This is really good tip, i am often driving home at dusk and think it is the best time to stop and photograph the light in the sky and the sillhouettes made from the landscape.
Will have to try this out with water in the landscape!
July 13th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
For some reason I can’t seem to capture any good landscape photos. I am good with wildlife,but for some reason landscapes are tough. Maybe it’s the choice of lenses. I guess I should practice more,instead of concentrating on wedding photography
July 13th, 2007 at 4:04 pm
Wow! Fantastic photos! I´ll try that, too! ;-) Great blog anyway!
July 14th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
What a great site. I agree with Andrew about “Solutions that you can implement while shooting” v. post-production. Is there a catalog page for ‘Tips while behind the lens?’
Amazing photos… Thanks
July 24th, 2007 at 5:00 am
Great post. When will I ever be able to take pictures like these?
August 17th, 2007 at 12:44 am
Great Tips, Many thanks and an excellent website.
August 26th, 2007 at 8:55 pm
the photos are amazing with best composition i like it very much it shows the different veiws of nature thanks for giving the amazing tips